We woke up to Emma’s birthday and wished her happy birthday first thing. Text, Facebook, you name it. Then we realized it was 2 a.m. back home. Oops.
The breakfast experience was significantly improved this morning. We said to Rabea “Deux café crèmes, s’il vous plaît.” She was unsure so we showed her the photo of the coffee she made us last year and she nodded her head that she knew what to do! Yippee!
Today’s mission was Luxembourg Gardens. Last year we walked along the iron fence and never made it inside. Everyone at home said the same thing: “Wait, you didn’t go to Luxembourg Gardens?” I had to admit, no, we ran out of time. This year I made sure that was not happening again.
After the rain we woke up to cooler weather but rain was in the forecast from 12pm for the rest of the day. We headed out around 11am. Luxembourg is a quick walk from Pas de Calais and close to the Pantheon.
There is history from every angle here. The gardens were built starting in 1612 by Marie de’ Medici, widow of King Henri IV. She wanted them to remind her of the Pitti Palace in Florence where she grew up. The palace at the north end is now the French Senate. From the central pond, the long row of trees frames a perfect view down to the Paris Observatory, which Louis XIV built in 1667. The whole thing was designed so you could stand here and see four centuries of Paris in one straight line.
The gardens were gorgeous even in the overcast morning. Manicured lawns going on forever, perfectly raked gravel paths, the palace at one end, the central pond. We walked towards the palace along the L’Orangerie.
Then we headed to the pond in the middle. Since it was a weekday and the rain was on the way, there were no sailboats out and barely any families. We had the place mostly to ourselves.
We sat by the pond and Mom was taking in every flower. She loves plants. She fell especially hard for the orange poppies, just like the ones in California. We wandered, took photos, sat for a few minutes on the iconic green chairs, and soaked it in.
The rain started to move in so we walked toward the Pantheon.
I had no idea what to expect from The Pantheon. It is huge and dramatic inside.
Main floor first. The Pantheon was originally built as a church to Saint Genevieve, the patron saint of Paris, before the Revolution turned it into a monument to French heroes. The walls upstairs are covered in beautiful murals of heroes from across French history. What I noticed and loved was how many of them were women. So many.
Inside the Panthéon, two huge murals along the side stopped us. The Saint Louis cycle by Alexandre Cabanel, painted in 1878 and considered the best in the building. One shows him dispensing justice, the other founding the Sorbonne. Look up and the coffered domes and Corinthian columns are staggering. At the far end, the Convention Nationale monument: Marianne with her sword, revolutionaries reaching toward her on one side, soldiers and a horseman on the other. Inscribed below: Vivre libre ou mourir. Live free or die. Same words New Hampshire put on its license plates.
Cabanel’s Saint Louis, dispensing justice and founding the Sorbonne
Then down to the crypt. The long list of French heroes everyone comes to see. Voltaire and Rousseau are buried directly across from each other, which is hilarious. They could not stand each other in life. They were rivals their whole careers, both died in 1778 within weeks of each other, and now they spend eternity face to face. Dumas is there too, with the whole crew.
The two I most wanted to see were Marie Curie and Victor Hugo. The crypt is technically a quiet zone, but no one was really being quiet. So I was a little surprised by what happened next. I was trying to track down Victor Hugo, said “Mom, this way,” and out of nowhere a group came around the corner and one of them shushed me. Mom didn’t even hear it happen. She just saw the look on my face and wondered what was wrong. When I told her, she thought it was hilarious. We did find Hugo.
Coming back up, we walked into the coolest thing. Foucault’s Pendulum, hanging in the center of the rotunda, set up here in 1851 to demonstrate the rotation of the earth. It looks like a giant clock and swings in slow motion. The world is moving and you can see it. We could have watched it forever.
By the time we came out, it was raining for real.
After we left the Panthéon we found this lunch spot (Claude, my AI, helped). Bistro des Poèmes. I told him the place was empty in here, he said “that’s not a good sign, leave, leave now,” but we were already seated. I couldn’t tell Mom, so we made the best of it. Thinking back now, it makes me laugh. We ducked out of the rain and watched the umbrellas go up while we ate.
Mom and I planned to order a glass of Sancerre, expecting white. I noticed it was listed under Rouge. Red. Caught it just in time. Here’s what nobody tells you about Sancerre: it’s a region in the Loire Valley, not a color. Most of what they make there is white from Sauvignon Blanc, which is why the name is so tied to crisp white wine. But about 20% is red and rosé, made from Pinot Noir. The lesson? Always check the color before you order. We pivoted to a dry Sauvignon Blanc.
This was the same mistake Debbie and Barb ran into when they teamed up at wine club. They had a French dish that needed a white, Barb grabbed a Sancerre thinking that meant white, and didn’t realize until she started pouring. We still laugh about that one.
Asparagus mimosa for me, tomato tart for Mom. Mine was cold, as I expected. Hers was cold, which she did not expect. She was disappointed, so it was time for a little shopping on the way home.
We stopped at Monoprix for a long sleeve shirt and Sephora for the famous Nuxe perfume.
We returned to the hotel and took an awesome nap during the rain.
Dinner was at Chez L’Ami Jean, which our friend Paul had recommended. They sat us at a long communal table, which we were not thrilled about. But you had no choice but to talk to the people beside you. Just like the night before at Allard, it ended up being the best part.
We were placed next to Avery and Gabe, a young couple from Austin halfway through their honeymoon. They were so much fun. The menu was in French and threw us at first, but Avery showed me her phone translation and we were good to go. We told them they had to come back to France one day for Monet’s garden in Giverny. We told them it’s a must see and they were excited to learn about this.
I had planned to order the Parmesan soup that everyone raves about, until I read Avery’s phone where it was translated to English and in the description I saw it had eel in it. Pivot. The asparagus appetizer was incredible instead. The asparagus is in season so what that I had it for lunch!
We ordered the beef shoulder to share and it was so good, we would recommend it! It was so tender you did not need a knife to cut it. The sauce was unreal.
Then the rice pudding. Chez L’Ami Jean’s rice pudding is the stuff of legend. Chef Stéphane Jégo created it as a tribute to his mom’s cooking, and it has been on the menu for over twenty years.
Mom said she would not be having any. She hates rice pudding. Then we watched Avery and Gabe taste it and they kept saying wow. You have to get it, they told us. When they were done they said this was their favorite restaurant the whole trip!
Suddenly Mom agreed to share a giant bowl with me.
The way they serve it was something I had never seen. They loaded the caramel and the praline in the bottom of the bowl, then poured the warm vanilla rice pudding right on top. It was magical. I am a rice pudding believer now. So is Mom.
It was pouring rain when we left, so we called an Uber and headed back to the hotel, full and happy. Day 3 was the best kind of Paris day. Iconic, drenched, full of strangers who briefly were not strangers, and finished with rice pudding I will be thinking about for a long time. Highly recommend L’Ami Jean!
Happiness is Possible 